USA: Virgin Mobile to offer prepaid iPhone 4 and 4S.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

USA:  Virgin Mobile to offer prepaid iPhone 4 and 4S.

Virgin Mobile USA, the prepaid brand owned by US number-three operator Sprint, is to begin offering the iPhone later this month, marking the second deal Apple has struck with a prepaid carrier in as many weeks.

Virgin Mobile will offer the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S beginning 29 June, offering unlimited data and messaging plans from as low as US$30 per month without a contract. Customers can also use the device as a mobile hotspot for an additional US$15 per month.

The base tariffs are lower than the iPhone prices unveiled by rival prepaid operator Leap Wireless last week, which will offer a US$55 per-month, all-inclusive unlimited talk, text and data iPhone plan when it launches the device via its Cricket brand on 22 June.

However, Virgin Mobile’s up-front costs for the devices are higher, charging US$549 for the 8GB iPhone 4 and US$649 for the 16GB iPhone 4S, compared to US$399 and US$499 at Cricket.

Sprint already offers the iPhone to its postpaid customers and analysts believe the Virgin Mobile prepaid deal may see it lure more iPhone customers away from larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

“At US$50 per month (versus comparable unlimited options from AT&T at US$100-plus per month), we believe this could gain some traction among U.S. customers who are able to pay the upfront costs,” Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group, told Bloomberg. 

UK: Samsung Galaxy S 2 is the most popular smartphone.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is the number one popular smartphone in the UK, followed by the iPhone 4S, Samsung Ace, HTC WildfireS, HTC Desire S, Samsung Galaxy Y, Nokia Lumia 800, iPhone 3GS 8GB and the Sony Ericcson Arc S Black.

In The USA Apple recovered its position of number one in the Q4 2011,not only thanks to the iPhone 4S but for the iPhone 3GS with a lower price. Apple knows they have to keep the brand presence in the market with before models as Samsung did with the Ace and Galaxy Y, reason why Samsung is number one for the full year 2011, followed by Apple.

The uSwitch.com Mobile Tracker, which ranks the UK’s most popular handsets based on live searches and sales, shows that the iPhone 4S still has not managed to garner the same level of popularity as the Galaxy S II for the ninth consecutive month.

Samsung has leveraged the Android mobile operating system to assault the market with a range of smartphones to suit all wallets, from entry-level to high-end that give the best competition a run for their money.”

Samsung’s rise is forcing Apple to continue offering older models to keep ahead. While Apple sold four million iPhone 4Ss within three days of launch, its return to top spot was partly driven by continuing to offer the iPhone 3GS – launched in 2009 – at rock-bottom prices.

Source: uswitch